March 16, 2010 - 10:47am
Looking for a German bread recipe
In the late '80s I was a foregin exchange student in Munich Germany. Every morning while waiting for the bus on my way to school I would pick up a small battard with cheese on the top of it called a Kasestangen. I have been looking to replicate these wonderfull little treats since I started baking bread around 6 months ago. If anyone has a recipe for these I would greatly appreciate you posting it.
Thank you,
Erik
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Since you were an exchange student, your German is probably good enough to translate these recipes:
http://www.chefkoch.de/rs/s0t42/kasestangen/warm-Rezepte.html
I have seen those but those are all more of a cheese twist. I am looking for somthing with a finished product like this;
would you suggest using the dough recipe and just shaping it in a battard rather than a twist?
Erik
cut lengthwise and topped with shredded cheese and re-baked in a hot oven.
cheese sticks. So, an oblong shape would be perfect.
hmmmm, if my memory serves me right- kaesestangen(at least the ones i used to buy at "mueller" at one of their s-bahn kiosks) were not something made from "blaetterteig"- the dough was more reminiscent of pretzel dough.
let me see what i can find out for you-on a german forum and by asking my dad in munich.
christina
erik- i would say this is closer to what you are looking for:
http://www.kochbar.de/rezept/anzeigen/index/id/88421/Laugen_-_Kaese_Stangen.html
i also emailed my dad to make sure i am thinking of the correct thing. the recipe above uses ham, too, but you can easily leave that out. those things are yummy!
if you need the recipe translated let me know.
happy baking
christina
Christina, Since it has been almost 25 years since I have really used my German I would greatly appreciate some help in the translation. Hmmm....Kasestangen with ham in them, I didnt think you could make them better but I think ham just might...oooh I wonder how they would taste with bacon. Everything is better with bacon.
Erik
reading all these wonderful recipes............ argh
"Kasestangen", also written "Kase Stangen", differs from region to region. Some is made with a puff type pastry and some with a dough closer to a soft pretzel dough. You can work from any standard recipe for either of those two baked goods (one bread, the other pastry) and you'll be able to replicate your European exeprience in short order.
I agree with you-just doing a search on Kaesestangen results in oodles of recipes. For the ones that I used to eat in Munich, now that Erik has me thinking about them, I am even wondering if the lye bath would be absolutely necessary(you might be able to get away with a baking soda bath), since they are a lot softer than the "standard" Munich Pretzel. But maybe their softness just comes from having cheese over them-I have no clue, since I have never made them myself. Only eaten them with vigor.....
Christina
edited to add: thanks for using the term "puff pastry"-couldn't remember the term. that's what i meant in my post above when i said "blaetterteig"
Christina was right the dough from what I remeber did have the consistancy and flavor of a soft pretzel. I think you are right that a baking soda bath rather than lye would probably work well(and be safer in my small kitchen). Here is a question. After forming the battard with the dough and letting it rise would you split the top before puting it into the soda bath or after? Here is a question for you bagle and pretzel bakers, do you still get oven spring after the soda bath?
Thanks for all the help....I love this site,
Erik
erik-give me a day or two to translate.also, i am awaiting a shipment of lye today, which means i will be in pretzel heaven this weekend(using hamelman's recipe) and i will hopefully be able to give some feedback on his pretzel recipe- i have read good things about it on a german site and it might be the one to use if you want to recreate the munich kaesestangen.
christina
Christina, Thanks again for your help. I look forward to hearing your review of the pretzel recipe and I cant wait to try it myself.
Erik
Erik- I sent you a message -hope you got it.
Erik, I don't use a "soda bath", per se. I use soda in the boiling water that I drop them into just prior to loading them into the oven. For that reason, I would divide and shape the pretzel dough (Kase Stangen) so they are processed individually. I've found no reason to use lye for making pretzels (or bagels for that matter) because soda works quite well and carries none of the risks associated with lye.
So you drop them in the boiling water with baking soda right before loading them into the oven. How long do you usually boil them? I would think it would be a fairly quick immersion 1-2 min tops am I right? And the question would ask is since this has a split top would you split the loaf prior to boiling or after?
Thanks,
Erik
I don't know how long you would dunk them into a baking soda solution- for the lye bath (either hot or cold) it specifys only about 5 seconds.I do believe that using baking soda, you would want the solution to be hot, though. Sorry, on that front I can't help you since the one time I made pretzels with baking soda solution I was very unhappy with the result-pretzels are not pretzels to my bavarian heart unless they are "Laugenbrezeln"-lye pretzels. But as I said, I think for the cheese guys that is less important.Anyways you would score them after dipping them in the solution.
Christina
Erik,
I boil them about 1 minute, then roll them over and boil another minute. If they're unstable and won't stay rolled over I simply use a wire strainer to hold the totally immersed for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. The slot gets cut just before loading into the oven. Longer boiling = more chewiness.
This recipe comes from one of my most favorite bread baking books: Richard Ploner's "Brot aus Suedtirol". I have not tried this particular one, but since I baked a lot of breads from this book already, and every single one of them turned out great, you should give it a try.
I would suggest, though, to ferment the dough in the refrigerator overnight. I also would work with a pre-dough.
KAESESTANGEN (25)
Dough:500 g all-purpose flour (the American equivalent to Italian type 0), 7 g instant yeast, 1 tsp. sugar, 250 g lukewarm water, 50 g butter (in small pieces), 10 g salt.
Topping: caraway, sesame seeds, coarsely grated Emmental or Gruyere cheese, coarse salt
For brushing: 1 egg, slightly beaten
To make: Knead all dough ingredients together for at least 10 min to make a smooth, supple dough. Let rise for about 25 min, or until it has tripled in volume. Divide dough in 25 pieces, shape first into rolls, then into 15 cm long strands. Brush with egg, roll in topping mix, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Let rise for another 20 min. and bake in preheated oven at 180 C/350 F for 18 min (with steam during the first 5 min)